High School Students Launch Social Media Strategy to Engage and Educate Peers on the COVID-19 Health Crisis

www.SocialDistancingPledge.com

A team of high school students from across the United States have been working together to build a communication strategy aimed at reaching teens and young adults via multiple social media platforms to encourage compliance with social distancing guidelines.

It has become critical to bridge the media gap during this health crisis — for young adults, teens and tweens, alternative media platforms are their main source of information. A group of motivated teens want to reach their peers where they tune in — and for many, it is not traditional television network news. *According to The Nielsen Total Audience Report, there is a significant generation gap in TV watching between those 50 and older and those under 34.

Founder Josh Harycki, a junior at the Shipley School near Philadelphia saw footage of spring breakers partying, crowded bars and beaches and was determined to do something to inspire his generation to have a positive impact during the current health crisis. He was very concerned that others his age were not well informed about COVID-19 and its implications for themselves, friends and family. Josh knew that social media was the main communication platform for many of his friends and classmates and wanted to find a way to raise awareness about the seriousness of the virus — even for younger people — using channels that people his age frequent. With an idea and a purpose, Josh contacted two friends who he knew were also tech savvy and civic-minded to help him launch his vision through a traditional website www.SocialDistancingPledge.com and via college, teen and tween centric platforms like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

Joined by Carson Rhodes, a high school junior at Palos Verdes High School in the Los Angeles and Steven (Songqi) Pu an international student from Beijing, China who is a senior at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, the three have launched an effort to educate others their age about the importance of flattening the curve to save lives. They are asking everyone, but particularly those 25 and under to make a firm commitment to doing their part to stop the spread.

The team’s website, accessible from desktops, laptops and all mobile devices invites visitors to pledge to observe the social distancing rules mandated by the CDC and the WHO. The pledges are tracked and graphed by geographical location on a map and the map is shared In real time on the site. The founders have included links to the kind of information they believe will compel others in their demographic to wake up to the reality that our world is now facing — a pandemic. Even younger people who may feel invincible need to understand that it is vital for them and those they care about that they adhere to the social distancing guidelines. The links shared with site visitors include the upsetting but real and raw interview with an ER doctor in Northern Italy who says fighting this epidemic is “like a war,” information from the WHO highlighting the fact that young people are not immune to COVID-19 and reports from experts that say those who smoke — including vaping marijuana, jeweling and using puff bars — as ubiquitous as drinking beer among young adults — may be a significant risk factor for severe cases of COVID-19. The site will be updated daily during this crisis to include information uniquely relevant to others their age. The three have also used Discord to create a real-time communication platform linked to their digital footprint so that group of youths can discuss their experiences and concerns with peers. The team will monitor the content and will not tolerate inappropriate exchanges.

These high schoolers are determined to do their part to flatten the curve by motivating their generation to make the #SocialDistancingPledge and SAVE LIVES! HELP THESE HIGH SCHOOL HEROS GET THE WORD OUT — Share this story with your viewers and readers, it is a welcome ray of sunshine and hope during an unprecedented time of stress and despair.

Media Contacts:

Kim Rhodes, 610–585–8533, kimlaurenrhodes@gmail.com

Josh Harycki, 215–605–4630, socialdistancingpledge@gmail.com

Songqi Pu, 267–588–2757, spu20@germantownfriends.org